<p>We made it through finals, senior festivities, graduation, and end of year concerts. The report card came and I don’t think WPI will even be withdrawing their offer of admission. The kids had a great party here last night with the world’s largest Bounce House. That thing was rockin’ and rollin’ until all hours of the morning. (And no one even called the police!) He even performed wonderfully at his Senior Recital (cello) yesterday.</p>
<p>Awwwwwwwwww, weenie, you go RIGHT AHEAD!!! You MAJORLY deserve the break!!!</p>
<p>MANY, MANY CONGRATS on all of the wonderful happenings out your way: the graduation, the great report card, the awesome cello recital and MOST ESPECIALLY, surviving the celebration with the world’s largest Bounce House!!! YOU GO, GIRL!!!</p>
<p>Now, go bask in the glow with some time just for YOU, O.K.??? You are a mama extraordinaire! :D</p>
<p>Yes, we heard your Bounce party noise over here last night in Buffalo, but figured it was your place so we decided not to call the police. Maybe he could crank up that cello next time? We’d love to hear a free concert…:)</p>
<p>“I’m bored, and all my friends work different hours than I do, so there’s nobody to do things with.”</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>“I think maybe the housing paperwork was due a month ago.”</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>“Maybe I should have decided to go to College Y instead of College X.”</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>“I need twin extra-long bedding and at least six more pairs of jeans and a whole bunch of sweaters and a desk lamp and a desk chair and a new winter coat and a case for my laptop and a fan and a mattress pad and towels and a new calculator and a checking account and a credit card and maybe a passport because my school is so close to the Canadian border and I don’t think everything I need is going to fit in the car, especially since I’m bringing three musical instruments with me.”</p>
<p>And at the same time Mom and Dad are realizing that in rather short order (eight more weeks at my house), this kid is going to be GONE.</p>
<p>One phase is over, but another is starting.</p>
<p>Thanks for the post… it brings back grad moments from 2 years ago when my son did the same. I’m happy for you, but like Marian said above, another phase will start!</p>
<p>THANKS MARIAN- I totally forgot that my son needs to bring twin X-L sheets to his summer program. You just saved him from sleeping on a sheetless mattress.</p>
<p>Weenie, go to sleep. Some of us haven’t gotten their beauty rest yet. Our party isn’t until this Sunday, and DD insists it’s still too early to go dorm shopping yet (we need to get together w/ roomie and roomie’s Mom, anyway). I did pick up bed risers from ebay, though, and we’ve put away plastic hangers and a desk lamp that we already had in the house. Other than that, nothing, nada, zilch.</p>
<p>Congrats on the great party! I think I heard it from down here!</p>
<p>Weenie - congratulations! It sometimes felt as if it would drag on forever, but I already miss the high school stuff.</p>
<p>Mine’s been out of school for 3 weeks now and has spent most of that time reading and sleeping. The sleeping is par for the course for him, but he’s not usually much of a reader. Apparently he’s trying to finish a long series of books before he heads to his summer program next week. </p>
<p>And we’re going shopping tonight for the XL twin sheets, bug spray and all that other camp stuff. He needs both dress clothes and sleeping-in-the-woods clothes, so this packing chore should be fun.</p>
<p>Marian, it sounds like you’ve been eavesdropping at our house!</p>
<p>Well, D has been out of school since before APs … she had to go in for APs, then graduated a month ago. The open house has come & gone, so my house & yard are in great shape. I am busy getting everything in order for an inside passage Alaskan cruise in 1-1/2 weeks (a gift from in-laws to our family & sister-in-law’s family to celebrate the two oldest grandkids’ graduations). DH can’t understand why I am stressed over it … as I bring up the cold weather clothes from storage, order certain items we need, plan what to pack, write up general lists so kids can bring the right stuff, find a suit for tall & skinny teen son to wear on formal nights (finally found a Volcom suit at a skate shop … how fortunate!), arrange for cat-sitter/paper stop/mail stop, complete the cruise paperwork, spend afternoon on phone with travel agent trying to straighten out issue with minor son’s paperwork I can’t access online, print off the we-didn’t-get-our-passports-yet forms, print out ship & air boarding passes for my family/computerless in-laws/nephew who will fly out with us, arrange land excursions, peruse cruise boards to find out what else I need to know (first time cruiser) … etc. I will need the cruise just to recover from the planning! </p>
<p>Now I am breathing…I was holding my breathe towards the end…not sure D would stay on track to finish top of her class-she had worked SO hard—she made it!..I kind of feel like I passed some kind or real life chapter…simular to the feeling I had when D turned 1 years old-She made it-and so did her parents!..I just want to soak in this feeling of accomplishment!..I know that sounds strange, but as a parent of a student who attended a large urban public school-it was no easy feat to stay on top of all the politics that goes into a public school hierarchy!..perfect example…D’s next to the last quarterly report card was incorrect-a typo had been made–the teacher had to jump through hoops, filling out all the paperwork for a data input correction, school counselor had to get involved, promised it was taken care of…10 days later—still not been fixed. I literally had to wait in the counseling office for 2 hours to see that it was accomplished. Of course fingers were being pointed every where…it got resolved, but once again, active parent participation got it done…so, yeah, I feel like this chapter is closed, too.
Now the summer parties—to do lists for college dorm–fun stuff! YAHOO!</p>
<p>Weenie, congratulations! We’re right there with you. </p>
<p>D and I returned yesterday from orientation at Miami-Ohio. I was irritated with Miami for making us make such a long trip for just a day and a half of activities. But I’m glad they did. D has her schedule, feels more at home on campus, has met some kids, knows what the dorms are like. I stayed in a dorm, too (with a roommate I’d never met and communal bathroom down the hall! Funny, listening to all the parents complain.) It helped me understand how my D will be living, and gave me a better idea of what she will need to survive in the dorms. (No full length mirrors anywhere!) </p>
<p>D’s 18th birthday is today. We gave her 18 presents. I bought a few things from the bookstore while I was on campus, and smuggled them home. A t-shirt, a stuffed Red Hawk, a mug. Ran out this morning and bought the mirror, a shower caddy, etc.</p>
<p>Long story short: She’s getting excited now.</p>
<p>By the way, our trip home was awful. Sat for 5 hours in KY, due to the interstate being closed for a truck accident. Detour was on a two lane road through Appalachia, where folks sat on their sofas in front of their single-wides to watch the “parade.” Kids came out to wave, and I wished I’d had some candy to throw to them! Took us 14 hours to get home. D and I got to spend some quality “together” time, though. And whenever I got too miserable, I thought about the reason for the delay, and figured my lot wasn’t so bad:</p>
<p>First off, I LOVE the idea of living with no full length mirrors. LOL</p>
<p>Second, I too was annoyed at having to drive to Worcester (again) for registration - but was really glad we did. I remember thinking the same thing about Denison’s pre-orientation, but I think they’re really worth attending. It’s great your daughter had a good experience.</p>
<p>Your traffic story!!! OMG that accident sounded bad. I hate those big trucks. Traveling these days is hard! The airlines stink, trains are a joke, buses are terrifying, and being in the car can be bad too. Glad you made it home safely.</p>
<p>An amazing and horrible accident story. Though frustrating at the time, those moments stuck in the car with kids are precious time. Now that my son is out of college, currently out of the house, I wonder how we’ll manage that sort of comfortable time together in future. I cursed those 12 hour drives together, the money, the time off work. Now I realize how fortunate we were to share that time getting him to school. </p>
<p>Graduation for my HS girls, a week ago, was sad and joyful and all sorts of things. We had a neighborhood party, 9 grads, 8 families. Recital, food, games in the park, frisbee, photos of all these kids from birth on up. I felt such gratitude for the strong community that has been a wonderful framework for raising my kids. </p>
<p>We will skip the long drives with them, one is going to the West coast, one an hour away. We’ll have to find other reasons to get stuck in the same space together!</p>
<p>Can I breathe now?
I think I’ll have to hold my breath a bit longer-- graduation is tomorrow, and S. is out tonight at a party…
We’ve made it through everything else, even the prom. But the parties are in full swing, and the quiet kid who never used to go out has become something of a social butterfly. He is very responsible (keeps reasonable hours, doesn’t drink and drive), but still… it’s that time of year, and he’s constantly coming and going. I just want him to arrive safe and sound at that dream school in August. That goes for all of them!</p>
<p>I will join you in breathing tomorrow. Open House is in 12.5 hours. Husband decided two weeks ago to strip the wallpaper in the kitchen and paint. Son finished his portion of the Open House late tonight. And no matter how hard I tried, he still insisted that Jello Jigglers be part of tomorrow’s menu.</p>
<p>(There was a thread on the moment you realized this was all for real. Anyone know where that thread is? I had my “moment” last week.)</p>
<p>I’d be interested in that thread too–
It hit me this morning in the shower of all places, and again while writing in S’s graduation card, while the SECOND attempt at graduation cake was in the oven…
Hopefully, I got it out of my system a bit so I can enjoy the ceremony without a lot of tears tomorrow!</p>
The kids had a great party here last night with the world’s largest Bounce House. That thing was rockin’ and rollin’ until all hours of the morning. (And no one even called the police!) He even performed wonderfully at his Senior Recital (cello) yesterday.</p>
YOU GO, GIRL!!!</p>